Alex Rodriguez showed up to what could be the last games of his career this weekend much the same way he has in the past.
He chatted with his Double-A Trenton teammates took swings in the cage and fielded grounders before crushing a two-run homer in the third inning of a 6-2 win over Reading at Arm & Hammer Park.
But the fans reminded Rodriguez of his reality: He could be suspended by MLB as soon as tomorrow in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal. He received more boos than cheers from the sellout crowd of 8080 and saw “Cheater” signs along with other less polite ones.
He tried to chalk it up to being in somewhat hostile territory with a fair share of Phillies fans in attendance.
“They probably don’t have a lot of good memories from me” Rodriguez said. “That’s part of it. When you’re on the road — and this is a little bit of a road game for us — there’s not a bigger compliment than being booed on the road and there’s probably nothing worse than being booed at home.”
There’s no guarantee Rodriguez will ever play at Yankee Stadium again so he may never get a chance to find out.
But Rodriguez was able to provide a brief glimpse of the slugger he used to be when he blasted a 2-0 pitch from Phillies left-handed prospect Jesse Biddle over the high wall in left-center.
“A lot of people cheered when I hit that home run” Rodriguez said with a chuckle.
That home run gave Rodriguez — rehabbing a Grade 1 strain of his left quad — more confidence he could play for the Yankees soon.